Angel: Second Front
by timan
Summary: Buffy has Fallen and the Turok-Han army is growing. With the surviving Slayers trapped on the overrun hellmouth and Xander and Dawn on the run from the Bringers will there be enough time for Angel to prepare the second front against The First Evil?


BUFFY

_Ring, Ring . . ._

_Ring, Ring . . ._

_Ring, Ring . . ._

_Hello . . . you have 1 new message . . ._

_Xander! Its Fai . . . (Static) . . . umbered! B's down, we're pulli . . . (Static) . . . mouth! B told me to gi . . . (Static) . . .ast order! You gotta find Ang . . . (Static) . . . et up the second front! Hurry, we've got ubervamps comin' ou . . . (Static) . . . sses not sure how long we can . . ._

_End of message . . ._

**Angel:**

**Second Front**

**Chapter 1: From the Mouth of hell**

**

* * *

****Angel and Team,**

**Wolfram and Hart,**

**Los Angeles**

Sunnydale in flames

That was the last thing he wanted to see. When Buffy sent him away he was sure she had some kind of plan, she always had some kind of plan. But even so this was The First they were fighting, the alpha of all evil, and with what was in the folder Lilah handed him he wasn't so sure they could handle it on their own. Angel rubbed his eyes tiredly as he replayed the news report again something he had been doing for the past six hours. Suddenly he heard a knock on his office door.

"Come in." he said darkly

The door opened and Wesley and Gunn entered. Both of them wearing the same concerned expression

"What have you got?" Angel asked

"Bad" Gunn replied

Angel broke away from the news report and looked over to him seriously

"What kind of Bad?"

"All kinds," Gunn continued, "whatever the hell's Comein' out of that place gotta a lot of folks changin' their pants."

Angel paused the playback on one of the Turok-Han

"Any clue on what those things are?"

"Nothin' solid, they read like vamps but I talked to the big cat upstairs and he says they're something older."

"It get's worse," Wesley continued, "I was doing research on those Bringers you mentioned when I got word form surveillance."

Wesley handed Angel the folder he carried under his arm. With a shocked expression Angel read the report

"Where are they coming from?" he asked

"All over apparently," Wesley explained, "So far their target seems to be young girls. They've killed several already and from what we know they're tracking more. The curious thing about this is these girls seemed to be tied in with the mystical shift of energy that expelled from the Hellmouth not a week earlier."

Angel took a moment to absorb this information. He glanced up at the cycling news footage with a sinking feeling

"What about Buffy?"

Wesley sighed heavily

"Still no luck I'm afraid," Wesley replied, "I've tried the Summers Home, Giles' Apartment and The Magic Box with no success. It's like the phone system of Sunnydale doesn't exist anymore."

"That's it, I just can't sit here anymore! Wes get Fred and Lorne and meet me in the parking garage in ten minutes we're heading to the hellmouth. I need to know what the hell's going on." Angel retorted

"Whoa, are you crazy?" Gunn exclaimed, "Or don't you see the wall to wall vamp things that are running the joint?"

"Yeah I do, and in the middle of that are innocent people getting killed."

"Angel this is madness!" Wesley inquired as he gestured to the video "Look at what's happening. Whatever these creature's are they haven't breeched the Sunnydale city limits which means they have some sought of plan not to mention we have Bringers swarming all over Los Angeles killing girls for heaven knows what reason."

"So what are you saying Wes? I'm just supposed to ignore this?" Angel retorted

"No, of course not, what I'm saying is you have to fight the battle you can win, besides, we have resources now. We can monitor and analyze the situation in Sunnydale from here and come up with an effective counter strategy." Wesley replied

"Great, and while we sit here and play big brother hundreds of other people are going to die."

"I'm sorry it's the best we can do."

There was another knock at the door. Gunn answered to find a lawyer carrying a note. Gun took the note from him and read it a curious expression crossing his face.

"Okay this is weird." He said

"What is it?" Angel asked

"This just came in from surveillance," Gunn replied, "You know those Bringer guy's tear-assing around the city? Apparently there's a small group heading towards The Hyperion"

"Why's that?" Angel asked

"Don't know. But if you ask me single-minded killers suddenly changing their mind? That's gotta be worth looking into."

**Xander and Dawn,**

**Hyperion Hotel,**

**Los Angeles**

_And now news to hand. Officials are still unable to speculate on the cause of the mass riot that see the small town of Sunnydale under siege. This comes literally a week or so after most of the town citizens evacuated for what seemed like no apparent reason. So far federal agents and the Military have been unable to enter leaving everybody on edge . . ._

Xander stared at the T.V. dejectedly as he took a swig of his beer his unshaven appearance along with his week old clothes telling everyone around that it might not be safe to approach him.

Idiot

Why did he let Buffy convince him to leave? He should be with them, fighting, not benched because of one lost eye. Sure, nobody's arguing that getting Dawn away from the Hellmouth wasn't important but in doing so Buffy's left herself a man down. That's the last thing she needed to be on the eve of an apocalypse. How could he let them down so badly? Frustrated Xander drained his beer and opened another.

"Xander?"

With a deep sigh Xander pulled in his emotions and shone Dawn a reassuring smile as she walked into the living area.

"Hey Dawnster though you were out for the evening." Xander replied

"I couldn't sleep. Kept thinking about . . . A-are you drunk?"

Xander held up his beer bottle and studied it.

"Sadly, no, all I could get was light beer," Xander replied, "You hunger? I'm not exactly the iron chef but I can mac a mean cheese."

"No Thanks,"

Dawn dropped into the sofa seat next to him and joined in watching the coverage of the 'Sunnydale Riots'. Xander tried not to let Dawns anxious frown get to him.

"Do you think they got out . . . Before." she asked

"Course they did." Xander replied as confidently as he could

"How do we know, I mean, we haven't heard anything since . . . H-how do we know they're still alive?"

"What are you kidding? This is Buffy we're talking about," Xander replied, "The undefeated heavyweight championship of the hellmouth six years running. Between her and the Magical Willow of Oz there's no way The First . . ."

Dawn dropped her head sadly

"I heard the message Xander, The one from Faith; you keep playing it every time you think I'm asleep."

Xander went quiet. The message, the final call from the hellmouth confirming every worst suspicion he had harbored since they left. The look on Xanders face didn't fill Dawn with confidence. She looked at him seriously.

"We didn't come to Angels place for somewhere to stay did we?" Dawn asked quietly

"No, we didn't." Xander conceded

Dawn looked at him panicked

"You think they're dead! We weren't enough to stop anything were we?"

Xander pulled her into a warm supportive hug. Xander keeps the brave face on for Dawns sake but inside he knows there's not much of a chance of seeing them again

"Hey, thought you would've learnt by now I don't know anything," He replied, "So, you know what, we'll start with the panicking when we do okay?"

Dawn snuggled closer into him and smiled lightly. She knew what he was trying to do and appreciated it.

"A-Alright. So . . . Where do we find Angel?"

"Wish I knew," Xander admitted, "My Wiley scheme of showing up at the hotel and finding him here went flat as soon as we arrived and the best plan I have so far is an aggressive door knocking campaign. Maybe a flyer drop would work, you know, something along the lines of 'Missing: one vampire with a soul, Dark coat, spiky hair, big forehead, answers to the name of Angel, last seen being moody and depressing' you think that'll work?"

Just then a loud crash came from the corridor. Dawn jumped up in alarm

"What was that?" She asked

Xander looked at the door to their hotel room in concern.

"Stay here." He said as he collected the sword leaning against the sofa

Xander made his way to the door and opened it just enough to see down the corridor. From what he could tell in the darkness the place was empty. He opened the door a little bit further and was about to exit when a curved dagger slammed into the frame inches away from his head. Alarmed Xander pushed against the door aggressively knocking the bringer off his feet.

"Dawn! Come on!" he screamed back into the room tossing Dawn the Bringers Dagger.

Dawn didn't hesitate. The both of them tore out of the room just in time to hear more bringers smashing through their hotel room's window. The pair wound their way through the desolate corridors of the once empty hotel. Every exit they tried was quickly blocked by the worshipers of The First and after a few twist and turns the only option left was to barrel into a nearby one bedroom and quickly barricaded the door with the dresser. Dawn panted in panic.

"W-why are they here?!" Dawn exclaimed

"You're asking me? I thought we got clear of those guy's when we left Sunnydale," Xander replied feverishly scanning for an exit, "Dawn, do me a favor, go over to the window see if there's a fire escape."

Dawn scampered as quickly as she could to the nearest window. Finally luck was on their side

"Yeah there is!" dawn called back

"Great, get the window open, once we hit the ground we make for the car!"

Dawn nodded grabbing the back of a nearby chair. Swinging with all of her strength she smashed open the window and she and Xander climbed out the both of them practically flying down the escape as quickly as they could. A small sense of relief filled Xander as they rounded the final corner leading to where they parked. The feeling didn't last long however because as soon as they were in range of Xander's Silver Ford the both of them were tackled to the ground by bringers laying in wait.

Xander and Dawn struggled fruitlessly to get free but the Bringers resisted forcing the both of them onto their knees. Through the sea of black cloaks Xander noticed someone approaching. The bringers parted and the duo was shocked to see Buffy smiling at the both of them.

"Congratulations Xander," she said brightly, "You've officially been promoted to worth killing"

"Oh, swell, what do get for this honor? I'm thinking a plaque. People don't give out enough plaques now a days." Xander replied

"Funny. You were always the funny one weren't you? 'Course it would've been better if you been the useful one but, hey, we all got our things. Hell, the only reason you're talking with me now is I can't have you all chummy with Angel sharing my secrets and what not? Where's the surprise if he knows what's coming?"

Buffy nodded and the bringers forced the both of them onto their feet.

"Lucky for me you're the king of dolt town so I won't need to lose any sleep over you getting away from me," Buffy continued. She noticed the fear in Dawns eyes and approached, "Aww no need to worry Dawnie my boy's are real good at what they do. The pain shouldn't last more then . . . what are we thinking five maybe ten minutes? Eh what the hell make it fifteen I'm in a good mood . . ."

**Faith and Kennedy,**

**Main Street,**

**Sunnydale**

They stuck to the backstreets as often as they could. Not like they had a huge amount of choice Ubervamps and Bringers controlled everything else. The trick was to stay out of the light as much as possible easier said then done when 90 of the towns population want's you dead.

Hold the line

That's all Buffy wanted her to do was hold the line and she couldn't even do that right. No wonder everybody turned her in a crisis she was always the one with the leadership skills. Now Buffy's gone and everyone's looking to her for the answers. God, she wished she had some. The two slayers flattened themselves against the wall as a sizable group of Turok-Han walked past Faith gripping the scythe in readiness just in case. They patrolled this part of town often. Anywhere that still had food supplies you'd find the ubervamps around.

Smart plan, starve out the survivors so they become desperate then you start picking them off when they surface. That's why Faith figured it best to have scavenging teams no bigger then two Slayers. Smaller targets, harder to hit. Checking to see if the coast was clear Faith nodded and Kennedy sprinted for the entrance to the supermarket.

"How we doin' brat?" Faith called out

With one swift kick Kennedy smashed open the door.

"I'd say we got about five minutes before the vamps come to investigate the noise!" Kennedy called back

Faith nodded and the both of them charged in at full slayer speed. Immediately they began to fill their Pack with whatever they could grab, mainly packaged stuff, nothing perishable it'll last longer. No sooner had they reached the frozen foods when they heard the commotion from the front of the store.

Damn it they were early!

Taking one last look at each other for confirmation the both of them shot off in different directions as a large group of Turok-Han entered. Like lightning they sprinted around the parameter of the store trying desperately to make their way to the exit before they get spotted. A shelf next to Faith exploded and she was thrown violently to the ground as the Turok-Han slammed straight into her. Quickly Faith jammed the scythe under its chin preventing it from ripping into her jugular like a roast dinner.

After a minute or so of struggling Faith twisted sharply knocking the ubervamp off her and before it had a chance to recover she was already on her feet. Faith kicked it hard in the ribs finishing the creature off by beheading it with the scythe. Out of breath she looked for any sign of Kennedy.

Kennedy had similar luck to Faith getting to the Exit. She dodged a swipe from the Turok-Han in front before removing its arm with her sword. Spinning sharply she beheaded it just before being pounced upon by another. Faith was about to help when three more of them leaped out of canned goods and pinned her to the ground. Faith and Kennedy kicked at them as hard as they could Faith desperately reaching for the scythe which had slid just out of reach.

She heard Kennedy scream as the Turok-Han on top of her tore out a chunk of her abdomen with its talons. This made Faith even more determined. Summoning up all she could she slammed her head into the ubervamps pulling herself far enough to collect the scythe. With one swift hack the Turok-Han's rolled onto the floor then exploded to dust. She was about to do the same for the others when Faith heard a high pitched whine coming from the door

Faith watched as three of the Turok-Han dropped to the ground and convulsed as arcs of electricity shot from Initiative Tazer Rifles held by Rona and Vi. Finding her moment Faith scrambled across the floor and helped Kennedy onto her feet. Faith joined the others as they drove the last of them away. With a sense of victory Rona smiled at Faith.

"What the hell are you two doin' here?" Faith yelled at them

Rona lowered her rifle and rolled her eyes

"How 'bout 'thanks you two'?" she retorted

"For what?"

"Saving your butt's for starters."

"Are you stupid?" Faith retorted

"I told you she'd be mad" Vi whispered

"Shut up," Rona snapped at her before returning her attention to Faith, "Look, We got our stuff already, saw you're in trouble came in as backup."

Faith moved in on her

"Okay, so I'm supposed to be all proud 'cause you thought it'd be better to almost lose four slayers instead of two. that right? Teams of two, that's it, the girls ain't good to us if they're dead Rona."

"Sorry MA'AM! Next time we'll let them tare you to pieces that make you feel better?"

Rona and Faith glared at each other viciously.

"Both of you get Ken back to the base I'll get the rest of the supplies."

Without another word Rona and Vi supported Kennedy as they quickly disappeared down the alleyways. A moment later Faith bent down and collected Kennedy's pack.

"Hey, now, is that the right attitude you think these girls need?" a familiar voice said from next to her.

Faith didn't bother reacting as she turned to face Mayor Wilkins who was standing in the doorway of the store.

"You know they look to you to see how to act you know," Mayor Wilkins said calmly, "young impressionable girls, do you think you're sending them the positive message they need?"

"Are you done 'cause I gotta get back." Faith replied

The Mayor laughed the laugh that sent a small shiver down her spine.

"If you were even quarter of the slayer Buffy was you'd see how hopeless this is," the mayor asked, "What is your grand plan Faith? Huddle together, underground, and wait for some kind of rescue? That's a little difficult to achieve when everybody thinks you're dead."

Faith smiled at him and rested the scythe on her shoulder.

"Know what? Keep on talking big man 'cause, the way is see it; we're still standing which means you ain't won yet."

"That only a matter of time Faith. The witch's magic is weaning and as soon as that barrier falls you know we'll be in there. Besides I got the whole world to play with now which means you and your band of merry men aren't my first priority. I can wait for as long as I want so take the time you need."

The First vanished in a bolt of light leaving Faith with a severe sinking feeling. They knew it would be a matter of time before they left the hellmouth but from the sounds of it The First's army is nearly ready.

Somehow, they had to get the word out . . .


End file.
